Truth-squading the summit

Seven of the 14 proposals in that section are credited to a House bill authored by Illinois Republican Rep. Mark Kirk. Another proposal to create a comprehensive database of sanctions against doctors for misusing Medicaid and Medicare was lifted from the Republican Study Committee.

Obama took the idea for a real-time database of claims — to more quickly detect possible fraudulent payments — from an amendment authored by Illinois Republican Rep. Peter Roskam.

Boehner’s office countered that these are hollow promises. A news release said, “When you dig beneath the newly minted rhetoric and actually look at the text of their bills, it quickly becomes evident that they haven’t actually incorporated any of the major health care reforms Republicans support.”

Employers dumping insurance

Obama disputed House Minority Whip Eric Cantor’s claim that employers will dump insurance when the government gets involved in the market.

But Cantor is partially right.

Under the bill passed by the House in November, an estimated 12 million people would lose the insurance they now get from their employers because it would be cheaper for their companies to have them buy coverage through the public insurance exchange — forcing them into a new system. That analysis came in November from the chief actuary at the independent Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, part of the Department of Health and Human Services.

To be fair, the report found that 15 million additional employees would get coverage from their employers under the House bill — meaning that about 3 million more people would have employer-provided coverage than in the status quo, so the numbers may balance out.

With the death of the public option, however, these points may be moot.

Harkin exaggerates GOP inclusion

Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) said the Senate health care plan contains nine of the 10 principles contained in the House GOP plan.

That’s only sort of true.

Harkin was referring to the “common-sense reforms” Republicans have proposed but not necessarily actual bill language.

Though they may agree on some broad principles, Democrats and Republicans disagree completely on how to execute these ideas. The House GOP plan focuses mainly on high-risk insurance pools, health savings accounts and medical malpractice reform. Senate Democrats’ plan includes an individual mandate, standardization of benefits and an end to pre-existing conditions.

Despite what some will say, there isn’t nearly as much agreement between the parties on health care as Harkin indicated.

Ryan overhypes Medicare Advantage hit

Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) claimed that under the Democrats’ plan, millions of seniors will lose their Medicare Advantage plans.

Not quite.

According to health policy experts, it’s fair to say that if the Democrats have their way, the benefits provided by Medicare Advantage will be reduced — which means that a number of seniors might choose not to enroll in the program in the future. That doesn’t mean people are going to “lose” their plans, exactly — just that fewer are likely to enroll. Seniors would still be guaranteed their traditional Medicare benefits.